Prepare for fracking, UK minister tells Southern England

Households right across the south of England should prepare for gas fracking in their backyards, a senior government minister warned. He also said the government would be cutting back on the number of wind farms built in the future.

Michael Fallon said that a study by the water industry, due to be
released in a few weeks, will conclude that fracking is safe.

Fallon, a conservative minister, who has posts in the business
and energy departments, which might be why he knows the results
of the study by the water industry before they have been
officially published, said that Britain could emulate US states
like Texas, in the extraction of shale gas.

Counties in the Conservative heartlands of southern England, such
as Wiltshire, surrey, Hampshire, Sussex and Kent could become
major centers for fracking, he told the Telegraph.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a controversial method of
extracting small pockets of gas trapped in rock by pumping in
pressurized water and a toxic mix of chemicals. Supporters say it
produces large amounts of cheap energy but critics say it’s
dangerous, can pollute the water table and cause other
environmental damage and earth tremors.

Water UK, which represents Britain’s water companies, was
concerned about the pollution effects of fracking and began a
study into its safety earlier this year. However, Fallon said
that it will conclude that there is no risk of contaminating
water supplies though fracking.

The report by the water companies will be seen as part of the
wider government drive to dispel fears about shale gas.

For their part energy companies involved in fracking have
promised one-off payments of £100,000 when an exploratory well is
drilled and 1% of revenues to be handed over to local communities
should drilling be successful .

But it is the environmental fears that led to a determined
protest at Balcomb in West Sussex earlier this year, where local
residents joined with hardcore activists to protest a proposed
shale gas site being tested for its commercial viability by
energy giant Cuadrilla.

Until now fracking in the UK has been focused in the north of
England but next year the British Geological Survey will publish
a map of southern England in which it will identify areas rich in
shale gas.

Fallon added that he had discussed the lucrative benefits of
fracking with the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, and admitted
that while the US state had little in common with the densely
populated Home Counties of England, Fracking could still bring
the UK many benefits.

“He was telling me about the number of new businesses that
shale had brought to Texas – technology companies, energy
companies, lots of new jobs,” he said.

In October a report emerged in the US that hydraulic fracturing
produced 280 billion gallons of toxic waste last year in the
country much of it containing cancer causing radioactive
substances. While a single well can produce between two and nine
million gallons of waste water combined with sand and chemicals.

While a UK study also in October found that although fracking
presented a low risk to public health, it also found that the
risk was only low if there was no operational failure and the
wells were constructed and maintained properly.

There were 250 protests across 26 countries on the 19 October
against fracking organized by Global Frackdown.

Gas versus wind

In other comments, Fallon said that he would block planning
permission for wind farms - which have also proved controversial
and unpopular with local residents – and said that only one in
three farms is being approved by the government following a
tightening up of planning restrictions.

However, many wind farms, both on and off shore, have already
been built and while unsightly do not cause any environmental
damage.

Wind farms have also been branded as uneconomical and of
generating subsidies worth up to £900 million for Britain’s ‘big
six’ energy companies.

Wind farms, say their opponents, are also only capable of
providing intermittent electricity and on days when there is no
wind old style fossil fuel power stations are still needed to
make up the shortfall.

An analysis of the industry’s figures published last month showed
the government subsidy for building wind farms is worth £200
million more than the income energy companies get from the
electricity they actually produce.

This figure will be further compounded by the above-inflation
increases in energy bills, which have been blamed on green levies
such as wind farm subsidies. At the beginning of October Scottish
and Southern Energy (SSE) announced an 8.2% rise in domestic fuel
bills, with other companies expected to announce similar price
hikes.